I have a pair of Musa basjoo trees growing next to my patio. After the first killing frost, I chop them down and leave about a foot or so of trunk sticking up out of the ground. I cover each one with mulch to insulate it.

After the Spring frosts pass, I pull the mulch aside and scatter compost and spent coffee grounds around each mushy stump. In a few weeks they start to grow again.

My other banana tree's a Cavendish of some sort in a big planter. I bring that one inside from October to May. When I put it out on the patio in the Spring, I mix some compost into the potting soil and stick a fertilizer spike or two in there.

All three benefit from the concentrated potassium found in banana peels. I also sprinkle a handful or two of hardwood ashes around each Musa basjoo after it starts to grow back (I don't do that for the Cavendish because the ashes would be too concentrated for a container).

Ann, where you're from, you should be able to start scrounging leaves for your compost bin. They break down better if they're shredded, which can be done with a lawnmower, or buy putting some in a trash can and add a weed whip. Works like a charm! Just add right along everything else. They are browns, so you might need to add greens, like alfalfa pellets to help speed up the break down. :)

doccat5, thanks for the tip about the alfalfa pellets! I have plenty of leaves which I do shred and which go into the compost bin. In fact, leaves and coffee grounds make up the bulk of what's in the bin.